When I worked on the Pediatric Unit at Emerson, breast milk stored in the breast milk fridge (there’s a special fridge for breast milk) was mixed up once or twice. That is, the mother pumped, gave it to the tech/nurse who then put in the fridge. Then, the mother requested her milk back to feed her baby. The wrong milk was given.

Simplified: Mary pumped.

Jane pumped.

Mary gave her milk to a tech/nurse to store in the fridge.

Jane gave her mile to a tech/nurse to store in the fridge.

Mary requested her milk to feed her baby. Mary received Jane’s milk.

The uproar in the hospital was overwhelming. The baby had to be tested to see if it contracted any diseases (such as AIDS), the mothers threatened to sue. Techs were banned from handling breast milk.

If the US has a disaster like this (say, Katrina) would a woman who did the same as Jiang Xiaojuan be hailed as a heroine? Or would women run their babies to the closest hospital to get it tested for diseases?

Is it ok for a woman to breast feed a baby who isn’t theirs? How would you feel if another woman breast fed your baby?

Like this:

Related

One Response to China’s Mother #1

I can see why a mother in a hospital would be worried about diseases being transmitted through a stranger’s breast milk. And in the case of a mix up, it wasn’t something that was done with consent. But in the case of this amazing woman in China, it was a life or death situation — firstly, the rules change in those circumstances, secondly, I don’t think she was grabbing babies and feeding them against their mother’s will — there was consent. So I think the two situations are very different. But that video was incredibly moving.